In the Yahoo Search Marketing newsletter I received today it was interesting to see that they offer a link to a basic search engine optimization article. This particular SEO article does a good job of pointing out the fundamentals, but there’s much more to site optimization than picking keywords and putting them in your web pages and within text links.

Three fundamentals for effective SEO as I’ve noted in a previous site optimization post include:

1. Make sure the site is crawlable - search engines cannot understand and rank your web site if search engine spidering programs cannot “crawl” or follow links between pages. Use HTML text links and include a site map.

2. Keep organized and stay fresh. Plan to add content to your site at least weekly. When you add new content, keep keywords in mind when you link to the new pages. Cluster similar topics together through links so that you create themes within your web site. Hint: This pretty much describes how most blog content management systems work.

3. Get links. People will most likely link to a site that offers useful content that is updated often. However, you can speed that process up by making sure others know about your site in the first place. Send out keyword rich press releases monthly or as often as you have decent news. Write and distribute articles on topics important to your prospects.

You can also contact other websites and directories with comparable content or categories and ask for a link to your site. Pay attention to gaining links from official resources sites and publications.

Basic web site optimization for search engines is about more than sprinkling keywords in the right places. It’s about making it as easy as possible for both search engines and readers to understand what your site is about and also making sure your content is good enough for other sites to link to.